Boot Key Harbour, Marathon, FL & Mom's Visit

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Click here for a great link to a live web cam of Boot Key Harbour and click here for a live web cam of Sombrero Beach. There are also some great pictures if you click on Photo Gallery on the Boot Key Harbour site.

We arrived in Boot Key Harbour on February 13, 2009 and settled in on a mooring ball. It was warm and tropical, just the kind of place we like. The marina has wireless internet, showers, washers/dryers and dinghy docks. There is also a tennis court and a park. The first thing we did was try to find our beloved Nookie a home. We announced it on the daily cruisers' net and posted pictures in the Marina. It took a while but one day this really nice young girl dinghies up to the boat and asks if we still had the kitten. We had her come aboard and meet Nookie and they were meant for each other. She brought her husband over later and he fell in love too. So yes we found a great home for our little girl who has since been renamed Twig. The young couple are from Colorado and had grown up in the mountains, which they loved. They named their sailing vessel Willow which was her favorite tree, so hence Twig. They were headed out to the Bahamas for the season and then up to Maine to work on a farm and learn to grow their own food. We know Nookie-Twig is going to be very happy and climbing trees on a farm soon. We were very sad to have her leave, but very glad that she will eventually have a land home.

We spent the first couple of weeks exploring and scouting out the area. These are pictures of the other side of Boot Key. Boot Key is an island and the only access is the Boot Key Bridge or by boat. The bridge was a bascule bridge, which means it opens to let boat traffic through. Click here for more Bridge info. It is the one we had to go through in the fog to get here. Anyway, the bridge is now permanently open, because there is no money in the state budget to repair it. The island of Boot Key is privately owned and the owners don't have the money to repair it either. So its open to boat traffic and closed to vehicle traffic. Now the only way to get there is boat or helicopter. This canal on the other side shows different boats that are either fisherman and have the owner's permission or just derelicts hanging out. Pretty interesting back in there.

Mom Pitteroff or Mabel as she is sometimes called, finally got to visit :)))) She had such a great time and we can't wait until she can come back. The first order of business was the get in the water, which we did, then RELAX. I think she caught on pretty good! We found her in this position quite often.

In order to get to Sombrero Beach from the anchorage you have to travel down Sister's Creek, it's not far and it's a very beautiful ride with lots of fish. You see a lot of eagle rays, dolphins and occasionally a manatee. Mom caught on to piloting the dinghy right away.

After a long days play it's great to go out for sundowners and a meal. This is Frosty's Bar and Grille located on the waterfront so you can get there by dinghy. Here we are at the left making our way back to the dinghy.

Made it to the Dinghy, but after a couple of beers is seems it might take the two of us to untie this line. Hey - who tied this thing? Well no fear we did get loose.

No visit to the Florida Keys is complete without a visit to Key West. We have been there several times and still haven't seen everything we want to see. There are so many restaurants and we haven't yet had a bad experience. Beach Bar & Grill on Duvall Street where we had lunch was no exception - it was fantastic the food and the ambiance.

The shopping in Key West offers something for everyone. Even Roosters I guess cause there were plenty of them. There are lots of clothing stores, shell stores, novelty stores, everything you can think of. Mom is getting some advice on shoes from another tourist.

I gotta get me one of these T-shirts :)

Back home in Marathon, we had a great barbecue lunch at Sombrero Beach.






Unfortunately, it was time for Mom to go, BYE Mom we love you and want you to come back soon!!!!!!!!!!!! We took her to Key West Airport and sadly said good-bye.

After we dropped Mom off we walked the docks at Key West and met some of the locals.

Some Pelicans and some Cats.



We think the Cats must be related because they looked exactly alike, however the one sleeping was a sweetheart but the one staring at us was a meany.







Cheers for now, Mom and Kim and Mike who really needs to brush his teeth :)

Dinner Key to Marathon in the Florida Keys

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When Kim got home we stocked up the boat and watched the weather. We needed a weather window to get from Dinner Key to Marathon. The night before Kim went to visit her family, we happened to see a kid dinghy over to a 18 foot sailboat that was anchored out. As we watched him we noticed that there was a kitten onboard and it looked like he was feeding him. He was there for a few minutes and then left. He dinghed back to a bigger sailboat that was about 500 yards away. We had a really bad feeling about it and Kim asked Mike to check on the kitten while she was gone and make sure that it was okay. Well Mike found out that the kitten was living all alone on the boat, and that the kid taking care of him, left him on the boat and just left him piles of dry food and a 5 gallon bucket of sand to go to the bathroom in. Mike found the kid's parents and asked if we could have the kitten, they said they would talk to their son and Mike agreed to come back when Kim returned. The day I came home we went over and asked to have the kitten. We said it should not be left alone or treated like that and needed a good home. The kid finally agreed and the father brought her over to our boat. The kitten was 6 months old and had been living alone on the boat for some time and only left dry food. When we went to see the kitten, there was poop all over the boat - it was horrible. He was left alone with the boat open in storms and high winds. We only had intentions of saving the kitten and trying to find her a good land based home. We didn't have any luck in Dinner Key and so we prepared her for the trip to Marathon. She was used to being on a boat but she had never actually traveled on a boat. She was bit tense at first, but she found her safe spots and seemed to settle in. We called the kitten - kitty - trying our best not to get attached, but of course we knew we would. We did finally give her a name - after we found out she was in heat and became very, very friendly - as cats in heat usually do - all she wanted was nookie - so yah we called her Nookie :)))

After we provisioned the boat, got fuel and water we headed over to Key Biscayne and anchored out for a few days. Key Biscayne is closer to the ocean so when we were ready to head you to Marathon is was a shorter distance. We would have to leave at first light if we wanted to overnight at Rodriquez Key which is an anchorage on the ocean side of the keys. So the weather and tides had to be right for our leaving and overnight stay. While we waited we explored the island - to the left is a lighthouse off the main beach. We got lucky one day and found it to be open - so we climbed to the top and got a wonderful view. Unfortunately, we didn't know that it would be open and were just out for a walk and did not bring the camera that day. But we got this shot of the outside another day.





The island was also full of raccoons looking for some handouts.

We had a good trip the first day, however, after leaving Rodriquez Key we had another days sail

to get to Marathon. The first couple

hours were great and then we hit thick, thick pea soup fog, which is very unusual here. You may wonder why we don't have any pictures of the fog - well it's the same reason we don't have any pictures of the storms we've been caught in. Your only concerned with the current situation and your safety. The fog was very unsettling, one of us was on the bow looking for crab pots and boats and also listening. The other was steering the boat while the one on the bow gave directions, like HARD TO PORT, HARD TO STARBOARD, OH SHIT :) We would take turns on the bow and at the wheel. As we approached the inlet to Boot Key Harbour, Marathon we had to pass the outside anchorage and find the channel markers to enter the channel. We did not see any boats in the anchorage (although they were there) and only had our GPS chart plotter and about 40 feet of visibility. We finally found the first marker and asked a passing fishing boat for some local knowledge of the inlet. The said to hug the greens starboard markers because the port side of the channel (the side we were supposed to be on) was VERY shallow. They offered to slow down and let us follow them until we got inside. We were very grateful, but we still had to go under a bridge. Actually, we had to request the bridge to open and then pass under it but we couldn't even see it. We called the bridge on the radio, and the bridge tender said that he could not see us yet and to call when we got closer. HELLO - FOG - NOBODY CAN SEE ANYTHING. I cannot tell you our relief when we got a few yards up and the fog started to lift. It seems that the whole harbour was clear - it was such a RELIEF, we could see the bridge!! So in we go, get our mooring assignment and safely get on the mooring. It's only then that you say - dang we should of got a picture :)

More to come in Marathon, with Nookie the cat, Mom and lots of living in Paradise.

Cheers from Margaritaville of sorts, Mike and Kim blissfully on Ka'imi

Tim Visits Dinner Key, Florida

When Kim went to see her family in January, Mike asked his friend Tim to come and visit with him on the boat. It was a great relief to have Tim come visit, the winds had picked up the night Kim left and were blowing 26-30 knots. Mike had a long sleepless night with the winds that high, because the anchorage had very poor holding. We were also testing a brand new anchor, a 55 pound Delta that we had just bought. Mike also had witnessed a 44 foot Trawler dragging anchor earlier in the evening. If the anchor had given way, it would have been very hard for one person to retrieve and reset the anchor in a very crowded anchorage. After Tim arrived the weather calmed. It was a great to see him and a relief in case the winds picked up again.

Tim had been to Miami and Dinner Key before with Mike back in the 80's when Mike had his 30' Hunter sailboat that he lived on. Tim stayed on the boat with Mike for about 6 months and they both worked at the Miami Beach Charthouse. After they earned some money they took off to the Bahama's to cruise the Berry Islands. Mike welcomes Tim aboard at the Dinner Key anchorage.



Mike and Tim enjoyed seeing the changes as they walked around Coconut Grove, Dinner Key Marina and Miami. They spotted a manatee around the docks at Dinner Key Marina. To the right is a picture of a Portuguese Man-O-War they spotted by the Dinghy Dock. The Man-O-War was wetting down its sail.

Mike and Tim took a trip down to Miami Beach. The dock at the left is where they lived when they worked at the Chart House. The only thing that looked the same here was the pier where Mike's boat was docked. Everything else was so developed you couldn't even get to beach anymore, without paying for a parking spot. It was sad to see most of the beach was fenced off and private. They have lots of restaurants in Miami Beach and we enjoyed a great lunch.

Mike taught Tim how to play Mexican Train Dominoes a game we learned while cruising in the Caribbean, it's very popular among cruisers. Tim loved this game and couldn't get enough of it. They played almost every evening. Here's Tim kicking Mike's ass in the game.

They weather finally cleared up enough that they could leave Ka'imi and Tim rented a car. They went down to check the mooring balls out at Marathon in the Florida Keys. Marathon is just north of Key West and south of Key Largo. This is where Mike and I are now. The left is a picture of the dinghy dock and the right is the old seven mile bridge.

Tim took the picture on the left of a local Iguana, he has a great camera. The picture at the right is the Dinner Key anchorage.








After a week it was time for Tim to leave. It's another beautiful sunset in Dinner Key. Thanks for coming Tim, and come back again soon it was great to see you.

As soon as Tim left, the winds starting picking up again to 20-30 knots. Wouldn't you know it, Kim got a phone call every day - "WHERE ARE YOU!" Thank god the anchor held!



Cheers for now, Mike and Kim on Ka'imi